Placeholder text

Go to cart

Invisible Fatherland

By Manuela Achilles

Invisible Fatherland

By Manuela Achilles

0 - Default Title
Description
Weimar Germany is often remembered as the ultimate political disaster, a democracy whose catastrophic end directly led to Adolf Hitler's rise. Invisible Fatherland challenges this narrative by recovering the nuanced and sophisticated efforts of Weimar contemporaries to make democracy work in Germany-efforts often obscured by the Republic's eventual collapse. In doing so, Manuela Achilles reveals a unique form of constitutional patriotism that was rooted in openness, compromise, and the capacity to manage conflict. Authoritative yet accessible, Invisible Fatherland contrasts Weimar's pluralistic democratic practices with the rigid tendencies in contemporary thought, including Rudolf Smend's theory of symbolic integration and Karl Löwenstein's concept of militant democracy. Both theories, though influential, restrict the positive potential of open, conflict-driven democratic processes. This study challenges us to appreciate the fundamental fluidity and pluralism of liberal democracy and to reflect on its resilience in the face of illiberal and authoritarian threats-an urgent task in our time.
Product details
Number of Pages:
320
Release Date:
2025-12-02
Publication Date:
2025-12-02
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Languages:
Original: English
ISBN10:
1009650998
ISBN13:
9781009650991
Weight:
616 g
Height:
157 cm
Width:
235 cm
Thickness:
22 cm
Buy on Amazon
Currently sold out